Domestic auto market keeps booming in May
- Source: Ce.cn
- [09:05 July 20 2009]
- Comments
By Wang Weiwei
For China's auto market, May is usually the month when the booming season turns to slackness. However, the May of this year saw a highly energetic auto market in China.
Mr. Zhang from Guangzhou had been expecting Toyota's Highlander for quite some time. So when Toyota announced the price of the car at the end of May, Mr. Zhang went to an auto dealer for inquiries. But there was no car in store, and he would have to wait till the end of the year for placing an order.
The dealer told Mr. Zhang that Guangzhou Toyota received an order for nearly 60 sets of Highlander within 10 days after the price was unveiled. Also, according to the dealer, a reservation for FAW Toyota's RAV4, which went into the market earlier than the Highlander, would have to wait for a month before the car could be delivered to the buyer. And it's not just for new car models.
Mr. Li from Beijing was planning to buy a Sylphy lately. He went to a 4S shop and was informed that he would have to wait for about a month. The car just sold out too quickly.
On one hand, popular car models are in short supply, and on the other hand, consumers are getting ready for purchase. During the Dragon Boat Holidays, the reporter paid visits to auto dealers and experienced the heat in the auto market and the dynamics of transactions.
In a 4S store near Yao Jia Yuan in Beijing on the second day of the holidays, the store was crowded. Popular car models, such as Focus, the new Fiesta, and Mondeo, were surrounded by visitors. According to the salesperson, a lot of people have come to see the cars lately, and a large number of them ended up buying.
Statistics also show the difference of the auto market between the May of this year and previous ones. According to CAAM (China Association of Automobile Manufacturers), this May has witnessed the production and sale of 1,106,900 and 1,119,700 vehicles respectively, a slight drop in comparison with that of 1,156,800 and 1,153,100 in April.
However, there had usually been a sharp decline of production and sales in May than in March and April in previous years. The level of production and sale of his May has been rather high, with an increase rate of 29.60 percent and 34.02 percent over the same time in previous year, making it the third month to have a production and sale volume of over 1 million sets after March and April.
Experts pointed out that the statistics show that the market in this May still maintained the strong momentum of the year. The auto market's making record-high sales in a slack season shows that there is a strong rebound in the market.
Driven by the flourish of the auto market in May, the production and sale volume from January to May totals at 4,837,700 sets and 4,956,800 sets respectively with an increase of 11.10 percent and 14.29 percent over the same period of the previous year. It is the first time that the increase rate of production and sale reached double-digit level. CAAM said that the industry would continue to prosper.
Statistics in sale alone are not full demonstration that the market is revitalized. The figures should also be viewed in light with the profitability of the auto companies. Statistics from the CAAM show that, judging from the major economic index of 19 key enterprises (groups), the profitability of the industry is turning for the better, with the decrement rate apparently smaller than that of the previous season.
